Jose Mourinho has given his predictions of who will make the UEFA Champions League semifinal stage after an intriguing round of quarterfinal first leg matches left nothing certain of who will reach the last four.
The quarterfinal first leg matches saw Liverpool record a 2-0 win over Porto, while Tottenham Hotspur marked the first European match at their new stadium with a 1-0 win over perhaps the tournament favorites in Manchester City.
La Liga leaders Barcelona came away from Old Trafford with a slender 1-0 win over Manchester United, while David Neres' equalizer for Ajax to cancel out a Cristiano Ronaldo's header means Juventus take the only score draw of the quarterfinals back to Turin.
"Let me protect myself a little bit; I think every club has a chance… The results are showing that everyone has a chance. Nobody goes to the second leg thinking ‘that’s done, I qualified already’ or ‘that’s done, I have no chance’," Mourinho, speaking on his RT show 'On The Touchline', said.
After picking Liverpool and Juventus to prevail over Porto and Ajax respectively without hesitation, Mourinho was a tad more cautious in choosing Catalan giants Barcelona over former club Manchester United. When asked which team would prevail from the all-English fixture between Man City and Spurs, Mourinho was doubtful.
"That’s really really really really hard. But, I would say City. But I have many doubts. I say City because you want me to say one or another,” the Portuguese joked. “But, really really hard because Tottenham can perfectly do it.”
Jumping ahead to the tournament's showpiece, which will be held at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid on June 1st, Mourinho believes a "classic final" would see Lionel Messi's Barcelona take on Juventus in a repeat of the 2015 final match, won 3-1 by Barca.
Also on rt.com ‘Barcelona was not Barcelona, McTominay was a mad dog’: Mourinho on UCL QF tie (VIDEO)"You know, Barcelona and Juventus they have a little advantage. Barcelona is winning one nil and now plays at home. Juventus drew with goals and know they are playing at home. They have a little advantage," Mourinho said.
"But as I was saying I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them or both stay behind. But you know, the semifinals are semifinals and the winner of Barcelona and Manchester United is going to play against Liverpool or Porto so it’s so difficult.
"And then the winner of City-Tottenham, as we were saying, is an English team that reaches a semifinal and goes to play against Juventus or Ajax so I really used to say this all the time when you get into a semifinal you have 12.5% possibility equally to win the competition.
"You have everything open for you when you start feeling you can. So in this moment everybody that is in the quarterfinal they are feeling they can."
The Champions League quarterfinal second leg matches will take place on April 16 and April 17.
Also on rt.com ‘It's nothing. I don’t think Smalling has that intention’: Mourinho talks Messi injury (VIDEO)